


Where You've Been

by FadingThroughNebulae



Series: In Celebration of SoKai Week [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Before Sora wakes up, F/M, Kingdom Hearts II - Freeform, Memories, Missing Scenes, Short One Shot, SoKai Week, SoKai Week 2020, Strong connections, remembering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25129603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadingThroughNebulae/pseuds/FadingThroughNebulae
Summary: Kairi's memories of Sora were incomplete, faintly glimmering in a cloud. Then the veil lifted.
Relationships: Kairi/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: In Celebration of SoKai Week [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817530
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	Where You've Been

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for SoKai Week Day Three, "Thinking of You/Dreams." Credit for the prompt goes to @sokaiweek on Twitter. If you liked this, please feel free to check out my other works in this series or any of my other stories. Thank you so much for reading.

A steady tapping filled the classroom as Kairi rhythmically hit her pencil against the side of her desk. She didn't notice people staring at her over their shoulders. Her gaze traced over her open notebook, where she could see faint imprints on the page. Traces of her pen where she wrote her letter to the boy without a name. He had a name a now but lacked a face. She had scribbled in the margins of her worksheet small faces of what she imagined his appearance to be. None of them matched what her heart said he looked like.

Kairi put a hand to her head. A low pain buzzed through her mind, and she heard Roxas's voice as it blended into one that was more sarcastic and teasing.

_"You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi."_

_Sora_. She rubbed her forehead. Her memory remained dark.

Her pencil tapping grew more rapid and her head almost dipped into the desk as a hand brushed her arm, startling her. Selphie pulled her hand back across the aisle, her brow creasing. Kairi slowly surveyed the room, watching as everyone turned back around in their seats. The teacher glared at her from the whiteboard, then with a clearing of her throat, resumed an explanation of how to add a predicate to a sentence.

Kairi let out a silent sigh, and Selphie risked leaning over to her.

"Are you okay?"

Kairi forced a smile and whispered back to her. "Yeah. Just trying to remember what I forgot, is all."

"What you forgot? Is this about the bottle you threw into the ocean yesterday?"

Before Kairi could respond, everyone began packing up their things. Kairi quickly stuffed everything into her satchel, and unintentionally crumpled the paper covered in sketches. She paused. Her breath caught in her chest, but her heart spoke to her. _Those aren't him. They're nothing like him._

Her shoes knocked together as she rushed out the door with the throng of her classmates. 

Selphie called after her. "Kairi! Where are you going?"

"I have something I need to do. Sorry, Selphie. I'll see you later." She pushed through the crowd in the hallway, her pace quickening as she neared the exit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kairi ran to the park on the edge of the town, where a backdrop of houses stood against the afternoon sun. She found a spot that overlooked the small island in the distance. Placing her bag next to her, she sat with her legs dangling over the cliff. She watched as the channel of water slowly caressed the island before heading out to sea. A light breeze drifted from that dot of land towards Kairi's face. She caught hints of salt mingled with something sweet. Her heart fluttered. Paopu fruit.

She reached over into her bag and pulled out her notebook. As she smoothed out the page of quick sketches, Kairi lifted her gaze back out to sea. She noticed the hazy outline of a wooden box clinging to the foliage. The treehouse. She blinked, slowly remembering more about the boy that used to play with her and Riku. Her gaze fell back down to her crude black scribbles. She closed her eyes, placing a hand to her necklace, twisting the gem between her fingers.

A young boy appeared in her mind's eye. His face was blurred. She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, willing for his image to materialize further. It refused. She released a deep sigh. Her necklace dropped from her hand, and she shoved the notebook aside. The wind carried small pink petals over the ocean, sweeping them towards her face. She felt a sudden warmth. A blinding flash jolted through her mind.

"Ah!" She clutched the side of her head, a surging pain increasing throughout her scalp. Her eyes widened.

_"I'll come back to you. I promise."_

"Sora!" Kairi jerked her head up and gasped. Everything came flooding back all at once.

Riku and Sora fighting with wooden swords on the beach, their feet kicking up sand as Kairi cheered from the sidelines.

Sora kneeling over the small spring near the cave, one of his hands grasping a frog as he pointed out the different spots on its back to Kairi.

Him standing in the cave, a bit of white rock in his hand as he blushed and rubbed the back of his head, the sloppy image of him giving her a paopu fruit looming behind him. 

Kairi's heart felt like it was going to burst. The cloudy vision of Sora returned, coming into quick, sharp focus. He looked at her over his shoulder at first, eyes blue like the sky and hair brown like cool soil. As he turned around to face her head-on, he aged into a young man, the same quirky smile on his face. He tucked hands behind his head, grinning at her. 

She fell forward, her hands grasping at the grass as shuddering breaths escaped her. She sensed he was worlds away, but it felt as if he was with her now. The gem on her necklace hummed with a soft light. She sat up and looked out to the island. 

_"I'll come back to you."_ She swore she saw someone on the beach, waving to her as they stood barefoot in the ocean. " _I promise."_

Tears welled in her eyes and the figure continued to wave as it faded into obscurity. 

_I know you will._ Kairi's heart soared, and in a fit of passion, she snatched up her notebook. She ripped the ink-filled page from the binding and tore it into small squares. She threw them up in the air as she stood. A strong gust of wind passed through and carried the bits of paper far away over the sea. Sora's smiling face remained in Kairi's head as she threw her satchel over her shoulder. She looked out to the swaying palms once more, a glimmering light lingering on the beach. She waved to it. She'd never forget again. 


End file.
